Santa Cruz's Nat Young reaches semifinals at Fiji Pro

Santa Cruz's Nat Young pulled off two more wins Wednesday at the Fiji Pro at Cloudbreak, the fifth event on the Association of Surfing Professionals' World Championship Tour, to advance to his first semifinal of the season.

Young will take on Tahiti's Michel Bourez, who entered the event ranked No. 4 on the WCT, in the semifinals. Bourez has two event wins this season.

"The goal is to win the final, but you've to take it heat-by-heat," Young said. "I'm stoked that I get to surf on the final day tomorrow in the semifinals and I hope the waves will be fun."

Bourez has had Young's number in elimination heats, going 2-0 with the last win coming in the quarterfinals of the Margaret River Pro in Australia in event No. 2.

"Before he was fighting for his quarter(final), I told him I was going to see him in the semifinal. He was like, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah ...'" Bourez said he told Young during an interview with the ASP. "And then he made his heat. I was really happy for him, but that's a bad look for me because he was surfing really good, too…"

Fanning was inactive for much of the first half of the 30-minute heat, while Young established an early 8.83 to 0 lead. When Fanning finally earned a 4.67 on his first wave, Young responded with his best ride, scoring an 8.17. He later added a 6.10.

Fanning's second wave was a 2.83. Fanning, who eliminated Young from his first WCT event in 2013, the Quicksilver Pro Golf Coast in Australia, tried to rally in the final minute, but Young used priority to force Fanning to pull out.

Young bested Fanning and Bourez in Round 4 earlier in the day by counting waves of 7.00 and 6.83 for a 13.83 total. Fanning took second with 13.74 and Bourez posted a 6.13 for third.

Bourez rebounded, which included a quarterfinal win over 11-time WCT champion and current season points leader Kelly Slater of the Cocoa Beach, Fla.

Squaring off in the second semifinal is Brazil's Gabriel Medina and San Clemente's Kolohe Andino.

"Today was for sure the best I've surfed since I've been on tour," Andino told the ASP. "I felt really calm, which is good for me, and I'm stoked. I'm still improving and my board change has really helped. I'm just taking it heat-by-heat and really enjoying myself out there, so we'll see what happens. I'm stoked that Nat is still in the draw because he's my best friend on tour."

Young reached the semifinals in three events last season, the Rip Curl Bells Beach in Australia, Oakley Pro Bali in Indonesia and Rip Curl Pro Portugal. He lost in the finals at Bells Beach and Portugal.